AI Agent & Copilot Podcast: C5 Insight’s Geoff Ables on the Impact of AI on Human Behavior, Business Workflows

In this episode of the AI Agent & Copilot Podcast, John Siefert, CEO, Dynamic Communities and Cloud Wars, hosts Geoff Ables, Managing Partner, C5 Insight, to discuss how behaviors and businesses change with the introduction of innovative technologies, empowering teams by developing a vision, reimagining the business landscape with AI, and C5 Insight at Community Summit NA.

Key Takeaways

• Company background: C5 Insight is a Microsoft partner with a background in customer engagement, with the practice built around CRM. It grew into employee engagement, expanding the practice to be around Modern Work, SharePoint, and Teams. Then, it shifted around Power Platform “because that was a glue that holds it all together,” Ables says. Now, the company is a very AI-driven organization, as it recognizes AI to become the new interface that humans work with on an increasing basis.
• Change inhibitors: As people consider AI acceptance, there are factors that impact human behavior. There has to be a desire to change your own behavior when embracing new technologies. The way AI changes workflows can inhibit change, as customers, investors, and shareholders still have expectations for what businesses will deliver. Ables shares a story that serves as an analogy of how people have stopped questioning the premise of why we are doing things the same way we always have. “AI gives us the ability to do that,” he says.
• Fire, aim, ready: Ables describes the concept of “Fire, Aim, Ready” before investing in new technology. “Start fiddling around with things because planning is about developing a vision, and if you haven’t played around a little bit, you don’t even know what the boundaries for that vision are.” People often need leadership and engagement to develop a future outlook. Having a structure that enables, empowers, and engages teams to share knowledge can lead to progress on your vision.
• Reimagination: AI opens opportunities to reimagine business processes, industries, and customer outcomes. Leaders can evaluate how to do tasks faster and better. Being on board with new innovations, like AI, enables organizations to get ahead and reinvent parts of the business to make sure you don’t get disrupted. In the years to come, the world will look very different than it does today. Ables notes that those who are riding this wave will be the ones to figure out how to survive in that world.
• Summit NA: Ables and the C5 Insight team will be at Community Summit North America this year. He shares insights on the sessions they will be presenting at the event. Ables’ sessions include:
  1. Academy: Copilot Strategies for Business and Technology Leaders: Greatest Hits from 365 Leadership Summit on Saturday, October 18th
  2. Academy: Learning Dynamics 365 Customer Insights – Journeys and Data on Sunday, October 19th
  3. 7 Habits for AI Transformation Success on Monday, October 20th
  4. Modern Work Makeover: Slash Time Wasters with Microsoft 365 + Copilot on Monday, October 20th
  5. Modern Work Makeover: Slash Time Wasters with Microsoft 365 + Copilot on Tuesday, October 21st
  6. Build a Better Extranet Portal: Power Pages vs SharePoint on Tuesday, October 21st
  7. Making Makers: Empowering Non-IT Teams with Copilot Studio and Power Platform on Wednesday, October 22nd